Happy New Year, blog-style

Before the holiday some one hacked my blog. I couldn’t log in and the back up didn’t work and out of frustration, I just decided to wipe the slate clean and so, here it is. A new start. A new blog. I am hoping to fill it with different things. Like most every year, I am hoping for a happy year. Instead of a sad. Only this year, I realize it’s only me who can make it happy.

Christmas was fun. I am not a Christmas person so to say it was fun is a big leap. We took Devlynn to NYC, we saw all the neat stuff in Philadelphia. We had a new Christmas Eve tradition. I have to share that video with you all.

We started our new year in Orlando, with the entire cast of Disney and it was awesome. I never in a million years thought I would be one of “those” Disney people but I am totally hooked. What they say is right, it is the most magical place on earth. It’s also the most crowded. I don’t think I have ever seen so many people in one place at one time. A bit of a struggle for introverted me but with a good plan, I think we did okay. Collectively, we had no idea it would be that busy. Looking back though, I don’t know why we would of thought otherwise. Every child in America is off school at the time we went, ha ha ha.

Still I wouldn’t change a thing.

We managed to ride all the “must dos”, I think. Pirates or the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World, Space Mountain. We rode Dumbo, the Barnstorm and the 7 Dwarfs. We we able to half the Epcot countries and saw Nemo and the beautiful aquariums there. The kids and dads got on the ride inside the Epcot ball. Dinosaur, the Lion King show and Everest made the list as well as the Bugs Life show, twice. We saw the safari animals and petted the goats and lambs. We were able to ride the water ride without getting too wet. We sang along with Anna and Elsa, trained to be Jedi, road with Rebels. I about peed my pants on the Tower or Terror and again on the Rockin’ Rollercoaster… and we had dinner with Mickey Mouse. MICKEY MOUSE! We were Space Rangers, swam with Ariel, we road the Speedway and we met a Level 3 (oh Stitch, how Sissy loves you). And I am probably forgetting things, oh wait I am! Splash Mountain, Dole Whips and Tom Sawyer! I cannot believe how much we got done in five days at the parks! There were fireworks too and so much food. It was the best trip. The best.

I honestly never thought I would get my whole family to Disneyworld. As a large family, the entry fee alone is daunting. Even for just a few days. My parents really made a dream of mine come true… I am so very thankful for the memories, even if it came with a new Disney addiction. I have already begun trying to think about how to get them all there again. It was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. Seeing it through the eyes of bigs and littles. It was fun to be a kid again. It was fun to feel a little well, “normal”. We took our first real family vacation. We didn’t have to say no. I felt like a normal family.

Now, it’s 2016. We’re home. I’m back to being buried under laundry and work. Trying to have a changed outlook but it’s hard and I getting buried under rain clouds. But like every new year, it feels like there is an opportunity for change and new beginnings. I want to try to embrace that. Write more, worry less, create more, worry less. Be me and not ashamed of me. And stop worrying about it all.

New Year, new changes, new me.

I took down my photography Facebook page. I will still continue to take my big accounts and the occasional small client but I think I’ve burned that candle almost too long. You can only keep a business of life support for so long, before you have to wish it well. I love my preschools but I just cannot keep with the other and so my focus will remain there. Preschools and the like. It’s nice to have those couple gigs a year. I hope to branch away from Fiverr at some point. It’s helped me realize I can do graphic work but it’s also taught me I am worth a lot more then I make. I just need to figure out my next turn on that path. And I want to craft more. Here especially. Because it’s fun to share. It’s fun.

So there it is. 2016. The best vacation ever. The typical New Year post.

Hi! I’m Gail, the voice behind Mimicking Motherhood. I started blogging after the birth of my 2nd child as a way to connect with far away family. Things have definitely changed since then. Now, mama to five, this is a place to help connect with other mothers, who feel like me.I love to make and write all while trying to figure out how to be myself in the world of anxiety and depression. Glad you stopped by.